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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26213029">Friends in high places</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation'>Multifandom_damnation</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Justice League (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Canon Backstory, Central City Police Department, Dead Nora Allen, Gen, Iron Heights Penitentiary (DCU), Post-Justice League (2017), Protective Bruce Wayne, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:48:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26213029</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Barry expected to receive first thing in the morning at his shitty job filled with even worse people was to receive an uncalled for promotion, and he especially couldn't have predicted the man who proposed it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Allen &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>216</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Friends in high places</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Barry's backstory is actually really tragic and heart-breaking and I wish that we had gotten a chance to see that play out on screen in the movie, but this is my attempt to try and replicate that. Hope you enjoy x</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Since the accident, Barry never thought that he would be late to anything ever again, but here he was, arriving thirty minutes late to the team meeting beneath Wayne manor, arriving in his civvies with the crackle of lightning and the familiar sight of papers being blown off of desks.</p><p>"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Barry arrived at a stop in the middle of the loose circle subconsciously made by the other teammates. "I wasn't able to leave work earlier, and they gave me double overtime as well. But I'm really sorry."</p><p>Bruce laughed and Barry wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Not to worry, Barry," he said, and he sounded so sincere that Barry felt his shoulders relax. "We haven't really started, anyway. Besides, we're still waiting on Clark."</p><p>He waved his hand in a vague gesture and Barry turned to see that, indeed, Superman was nowhere to be seen. "Oh," he blinked. "Where is he?"</p><p>"He's occupied by a sinking cruise ship off the coast of Ibiza," Victor said absently as he scrolled through a screen filled with random codes and digits that made no sense to anyone but him. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."</p><p>For a moment, Barry could do very little but stand there and consider it. "Wow," he said. "That's... heroic."</p><p>A harsh snort drew his attention to the corner where Arthur was lying on a large, reinforced crate with his arms crossed over his chest. "That's one way to put it," he grinned. "So, what was the overtime for? You piss off the wrong guy or what? I don't believe that it was just because you were taking too long to do your work."</p><p>"I mean," Barry shifted his feet nervously. "Superspeed is great and all, but it's very hard to use it all the time and also keep it a secret. If I start running around the place and get really difficult tasks done in seconds, people are going to notice. I'm uh, I'm not exactly subtle." he ran a hand across the back of his neck. "But, uh, to answer your real question, I don't think they like me very much at work. They tend to give me overtime after every shift. But it's alright, you know. My people skills are a little rusty and I've worked my whole life to get where I am, so I'm not exactly in a position to complain."</p><p>Diana frowned, tilting her head so her hair fell over her shoulder. "You're being picked on at work? Why?"</p><p>Leaning forward, Barry looked up at the dark, bat-riddled space as he thought before continuing to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. "I can be... annoying."</p><p>Arthur barked out a laugh as he slowly sat up and swung his legs off the crate. Bruce sent him a sharp glare. "That's not true, Barry," he said gently, softer than Barry had ever heard him. He thought it strange that it was being directed at him. "You're actually... I mean, we-"</p><p>It was sweet to see him try, but Barry wasn't in the mood for him to struggle and mince his words just to make Barry feel better. "Thanks, Bruce, but let's not," he cut him off. "What are we here to talk about again?"</p><p>When the meeting was finally, eventually, concluded, and almost everyone had gone home for the night, Bruce invited the remaining members of the team upstairs to the Manor for a drink. </p><p>"So," he mused as he pulled away from the lip of his glass, placing it on the tabletop with a <em>clink</em>. "What did you make of Barry's story tonight?"</p><p>"I think it's vile," Diana replied immediately. "He shouldn't be picked on and singled out by his employer for extra work just because he's different."</p><p>"I agree," Bruce said as he drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "I don't like it, but I don't want to jump to conclusions too soon. I don't even know where he works. This might be normal behaviour for his employer."</p><p>Humming, Vic lowered the screen he was looking at so he could fix Bruce with a disapproving stare. "Seriously?"</p><p>All Bruce could do was shrug. "I wouldn't even know where <em>Clark</em> works if I didn't own the company. That sort of information isn't all that important to me."</p><p>Rolling his eyes, Vic sat back against his chair. "Of course not," he sighed. "He works at the Central City Police Department. He's a janitor there, but he's trying to work his way up to the crime lab."</p><p>Bruce frowned. "I didn't know that."</p><p>Shrugging, Vic looked away from Bruce and down to the table as if trying to meet his gaze. "You don't know because you don't ask."</p><p>"Does Barry have the skills to work in a crime lab or is it nearly an aspiration of his?" Diana asked from where she was sitting between both men and their back and forth.</p><p>"Oh yeah, absolutely," Vic said. "The guy's a genius. He's so smart that it shocks me sometimes. If it weren't for the fact that my brain is literally ingrained into the internet, he'd be smarter than me. I think that his impatience and peculiarities get in the way of that sometimes, but he's wicked smart."</p><p>Again, Bruce felt his lips pull downwards into a frown. "I knew that the kid was smart when I realized that he built his own friction-resistant suit with material that they use for space shuttles, but I never would have thought that he'd want to work in a crime lab."</p><p>Vic fell silent, tracing his fingertip across the counter, the steel making the marble squeak. With his gaze directed downwards, he was keenly aware of his teammate's eyes on him. "His mother died when he was a kid. She was murdered, right in front of him. Maybe that's why he's the way he is, I don't know. But he's been trying to get into the crime lab all his life."</p><p>The following silence was broken by Diana's shaky exhale. "That's <em>terrible</em>," she breathed. "How do you know this?"</p><p>He shrugged. "It's the first thing that comes up with a quick Google search."</p><p>Bruce's hand was clenched tightly around his glass as he stared down at the liquid inside with a pensive, thoughtful expression that how didn't give away the fiery, bitter emotion he was holding back. He leaned back in his chair, tilted his head to the side and called into the darkness, "Alfred?" His voice echoed through the halls.</p><p>Soon after they were met by the sound of polished shoe tapping swiftly across the smooth flooring. "Yes, sir?"</p><p>"Could you please find me the phone number for the head deputy of the Central City Police Department?" Bruce replied before doing the remains of his drink.</p><p>"Of course, Master Bruce. Right away," Alfried's footsteps receded and disappeared back down the hall.</p><p>Diana looked at Bruce through narrowed eyes as Bruce adjusted the cuffs of his shirt. "What are you up to? What are you planning?"</p><p>"Nothing, Diana," Bruce replied unconvincingly. Diana didn't look happy about it.</p><p>"Uh," Vic asked, genuinely confused. "What are you going to do?"</p><p>The shrug Bruce gave was nonchalant and bored, but his sly smile told a very different smile. "All you need to know is that I'm going to fix it."</p><p>When Barry arrived to work the next day, his trolley filled with cleaning equipment dragging behind him, he was immediately bombarded by the two assholes he worked with that always purposefully made more mess for him to clean up right at the end of his shift, like coffee stains on the ceiling of the break room or fresh chewing gum hidden on the bottom of the desks or soggy papers strewn across the floor in all the rooms. "Hey, Barry," Nathan greeted him with a forced smile "How's it going?"</p><p>Suspicious, Bary froze as an uncomfortable feeling crawled across his shoulders, like a spider he just couldn't catch. Nobody ever said hello to him much less asked him how he was. "What are you doing?" He asked without thinking. "What do you want?"</p><p>Nathan frowned at his reaction and was immediately replaced by Todd, the other prick who stood out to Barry as one of the worst employee's he had to endure and who he secretly called 'Toad' in his head, slung his arm around Barry's shoulders as if they were best buds. "We were just set to tell you that the boss wants to see you," Todd said. "How come you never told us that you knew Bruce Wayne? I thought we were <em>friends</em>, man. That's not the kind of information we hide from friends."</p><p>"We're not friends," Barry pulled away. "I help him with a, uh... extra-circular activity. Yeah. Is Sam in his office?"</p><p>Todd dropped his arm when Barry pulled away, "You can leave your equipment here," he said when Barry began to walk away with it, sticking his foot under the wheel so it couldn't move. "We'll watch over it for you. You can trust us."</p><p>He highly doubted that but as Barry made his way through the halls of the CCPD, he was keenly aware of everyone stopping to stare at him, and he resisted every urge in his body to <em>run</em>, but they were in close quarters and the lightning and blowback probably would have done this pace a world of damage. </p><p>The closer he got to Sam's office, the faster pure panic began pumping through his veins. He was rarely called to see the boss, but when he was, it wasn't even good. Especially, so early in the morning, when he had just walked through the door and hadn't had a chance to do anything wrong yet.</p><p>Sam was waiting for Barry to enter his office, and when he slowly shut the door behind him, Sam rose from his chair, straightening out his suit. "Barry! There you are. Welcome! Have a seat," he waved a hand at the plush seat across from the desk, very different than the small, wooden, uncomfortable chair that normally sat there.</p><p>"Uh, no thanks," Barry shuffled awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Did you need me for something... sir?"</p><p>"Well, I got a phone call this morning. From the one and only billionaire, philanthropist, Bruce Wayne. Apparently, you don't need any introductions," Sam explained as he sat back down in his seat, leaving Barry standing. "He sent over your qualifications. Insisted that I gave them another once-over. Oh, and that you should be immediately promoted to a senior position in the crime lab upstairs."</p><p>Barry would have been less surprised if Sam suddenly stood up from his chair and announced that he too had superpowers and an alter-ego while ripping off his shirt to reveal a kevlar uniform beneath. "He did <em>what</em>?"</p><p>"I see you're just as surprised with the information as I was," Sam said, leaning back in his chair.</p><p>"What did he say?" Barry demanded, his fingers tapping quickly on his thighs, trying not to stress too much. It was hard when the situation was just so strange. </p><p>Raising his eyebrows, Sam dug through his drawers until he tossed a folder onto the desk with Barry's name on it. "Just that your qualifications were above that needed for a position in our crime lab and that it would be in my 'best interest' to consider you for a higher position. And it turns out that you do in fact have all the qualifications for our crime lab, and, well, the current position has very recently been vacated and we are in dire need of a strapping, talented, intelligent young man like yourself to fill the currently empty position."</p><p>Glancing out the window just to give himself something to do, Barry finally noticed every other member at the CCPD stopping what they were doing to watch the silent interaction unfold, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was how zoo animals felt. "And you want... me? In the crime lab?"</p><p>Wordlessly, Sam dug through his desk drawers again before retrieving a big red stamp and thumped it down on his folder with a resounding <em>crack!</em> leaving bold lettering on the front of the folder. "Congratulations, Barry."</p><p>As he gingerly lifted his folder from the desk, the onlookers outside the office erupted in polite applause. Shellshocked, Barry glanced between Sam waiting expectantly at the folder in his hands with the bolded red words. "What made you change your mind?"</p><p>Sam blinked. "I beg your pardon?"</p><p>"You said when you hired me that hell had a better chance of freezing over than you promoting me to the crime lab," Barry said. Sam kind of sat back in his tall desk chair. "So what made you change your mind?"</p><p>"Well," Sam's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "I mean... Bruce Wayne-"</p><p>"So this is only because you got a phone call from Bruce Wayne and you wanting to impress him, and had absolutely nothing to do with my outstanding qualifications or skill?" Dimly, Barry realized that this was the worst way to thank him, but he was so caught up in the euphoria and confusion that he couldn't actually care.</p><p>"Well, I uh-"</p><p>But Barry was already turning his back on him, walking quickly towards the door before Sam could change his mind. "Cool, good to know. Thanks, Sam." The door shut behind him, cutting off Sam's frantic reply and did his very best to ignore his coworkers crowding around him and staring as he speed-walked in the direction of the upstairs crime lab.</p><p>He knew where it was with no assistance because he had spent most of the time cleaning the precinct and mopping the floors, daydreaming and fantasising about one day getting the keys to the place and being able to call it his own. He just never expected this day to come, and especially not so soon.</p><p>The lab looked exactly how he expected it and so much more. Shelves filled with beakers lined the walls. Tall filing cabinets with deep drawers sat waiting to be used. The desk was empty and unused as if waiting for him. The computer welcomed him and asked him to log in and boot up the program for the first time like it had been restarted from the ground up in preparation for him. </p><p>It was everything he had ever wanted and so much more.</p><p>It was the first time he willingly worked overtime as he got acquainted with his new lab and fixed it up just how he liked it, but despite his eagerness to get started, the minute the shift ended he wasted no time in getting a safe distance from the precinct before taking off at a full sprint towards Iron Heights Penitentiary. </p><p>He wasn't kept waiting long before his dad walked in, escorted by a guard, and sat down in the plastic chair on the opposite side of the plexiglass, a smile on his face as he reached for the phone "Hey, buddy. How's it going?" </p><p>Barry wasted no time and slapped his file proudly declaring his promotion against the window as he sat in the dinky plastic seat and removed his own phone from the receiver on the wall. "I've been promoted," he said in answer to his fathers shocked expression. "Crime lab, dad. They've given me the crime lab."</p><p>Henry looked like he was about to burst into tears, and Barry knew that if he had the opportunity, he would be wrapping his arms around Barry and crushing him to his chest in a tight hug. "Are you kidding?" he breathed. "Barry, that's- that's <em>amazing</em>! I'm so proud of you! But how did you do it? Last time I saw you, you said that they were giving you trouble and that you were probably going to move stations to Star City? I mean, you've been there for a couple of months and now you're in one of the highest positions they have?"</p><p>"Well, I didn't actually do anything," Barry explained. "A friend of mine called Sam and told him to take another look at my qualifications, and Sam decided that he made a mistake and promoted me this morning."</p><p>"Oh yeah?" Henry beamed. "And who's this friend of yours that somehow has so much power over the CCPD that he could convince the Senior Sergent to reconsider?"</p><p>"Bruce Wayne," Barry said.</p><p>He had forgotten that his dad knew next to nothing about his new friends or the after-hours activities they got up to together, and he only remembered that when his dad reeled backwards, eyes wide and mouth agape. <em>"Bruce Wayne?"</em></p><p>"Uh," Barry scrambled for a response. "I've helped him with a couple of projects that he's been working on."</p><p>"Holy crap, Barry," Henry couldn't hold back his startled laugh. "You must mean <em>something</em> to him if he's personally calling up your boss to request a promotion."</p><p>"Yeah, uh, anyway," Barry cleared his throat, shuffled in his seat. "But dad, you know what this means, right? I can finally work on getting you out of here."</p><p>Suddenly, Henry's elated expression morphed into one of sadness and sympathy. "Barry-"</p><p>"No, listen," Barry insisted. "I'm sure that I could do it if I were just given a chance. I could find a way to get the case opened up. I've got friends who could help."</p><p>"Don't," Henry shook his head. "It's not worth it."</p><p>Not for the first time, Barry felt like he wanted to scream. "What do you <em>mean</em> it's not worth it? You're my <em>dad</em> and you're in a high-security prison or a crime you didn't commit. If I can get you out of here, you better believe that I'm going do whatever I can to make that happen."</p><p>Sighing, Henry placed his hand against the window. "Barry, you're young. You need to live your life. Stop worrying about your old man, I'm only holding you back."</p><p>A moment later, Barry followed suit, placing his own hand against the glass and if he closed his eyes very tightly, he could almost imagine that the plexiglass between their hands was gone and that they were connected, hand to hand, skin to skin. "But I don't want to live my life out there while you're stuck rotting in here."</p><p>Henry sighed, so sad and so fatherly and everything Barry loved and missed. He had to look away. "Try,"</p><p>When Barry's visitation ran out and he watched his dad get dragged away in chains, he stuck his hands in his hoodie pockets and left the familiar, brightly-lit winding hallways of Iron Heights Penitentiary until he was back outside, bathed in mild moonlight and fresh air.</p><p>The last thing he expected to see was a Mercedes- Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo parked at the entrance, and Bruce leaning against the driver's side door, hands in the pockets of his sleek black suit. "Barry,"</p><p>"Uh, hey, Bruce," Barry said awkwardly as he rubbed at the back of his neck, looking back and forth to check if anyone was watching. "What are you doing here?"</p><p>"I've come to take you home," Bruce said easily, like they were meeting at the park, not out the front of a prison in the middle of the night. "But it's funny. I was going to ask you the same question."</p><p>"Funny," Barry managed. </p><p>Bruce nodded his head towards the tall, concrete walls of the prison, the tiny windows lit and stripped with metal bars. "Who were you visiting. I spoke to the guard at the front desk. She says you come a couple of times a week."</p><p>"Yeah, uh," Barry kicked at the ground, sending blooms of dirt upwards into the sky, and he watched it all dissipate before he even considered speaking. "My dad."</p><p>It took a lot to surprise Bruce, but he rose his eyebrow as Barry braved a glance up at him and away from his shoes. "Your dad? In Iron Heights? What did he do?"</p><p>"Uh," Barry licked his lips. "Murder."</p><p>The look on Bruce's face could only be described as like he was simultaneously being punched in the gut and watching someone fall off a mountain at the same time. "Oh, Barry-"</p><p>"But he didn't do it," Barry said hurriedly, almost stumbling over his words in his haste to get them out there, cutting Bruce off before he could get any further. "He didn't. I know you think I'm biased and just a stupid kid, but<em> he didn't do it</em>."</p><p>"How do you know that?" Bruce frowned. </p><p>"Because I was there," Barry insisted. "He didn't kill her. He wasn't even in the same part of the house when he- when it came."</p><p>Slowly, Bruce took his hands out of his pockets. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to retain some semblance of composure, but Barry could see the way his eyebrows were pinched together as his mind reeled through the new information a mile a minute and Barry knew a bit about a mile a minute. "What's it, Barry? Did you see something?"</p><p>Gulping, Barry kept his hands balled tightly into fists securely in his pocket, dug his heels into the ground to make sure he didn't go anywhere. The urge to run came over him again, to run and run and run until he couldn't run anymore, but there was something in Bruce's eyes, something in the kindness of his soft-spoken words, that made Barry feel like he didn't have to run this time. "I couldn't really describe it when I was younger. It was just- it all happened so fast that I barely knew what it was, but there was a man, and he was dressed in a... in a yellow suit, with a mask over his face, and his eyes glowed red like burning coals. It was only when I got powers of my own that I realized that he was like me. He was... super fast. One minute we were alone, and the next he was there. He killed her and fled. He nearly tore the house apart. But he left me there, and it was a few minutes later before my dad even got there to see my mum. He had nothing to do with it."</p><p>"Did you tell all this to the police?" Bruce asked.</p><p>"Of course I did," Barry shrugged. "But I was just a kid. Who would believe me? Nobody even wanted to hear what I had to say, and I was too scared of what they would do if I started talking about a superhuman in a yellow suit."</p><p>Bruce just watched him for a moment, looking him up and down, categorizing everything he could. Barry felt it disconcerting and looked away. "When you told me what happened, you called this yellow suited speedster an 'it'. Why did you do that?"</p><p>Barry shook his head. "Anybody who could do something like that doesn't deserve to be called a person. It's a monster. And my dad is serving a life sentence in Iron Heights because of it."</p><p>"He was the only person around, so he took the blame for her murder," Bruce answered his unasked question. It was something he had seen many times before, but none with such compelling evidence as this case. Expect for Barry and his un-acknowledged testimony. </p><p>"That's why I've been working so hard to get into the crime lab," Barry said. "Because I know that if I was just given a chance, I could get the case re-opened and produce new evidence, and look for new clues the officers back then might have missed or looked over because they already had their guy. I'm going... I don't know what I'm going to do. But I'm going to get him out of there. And I'm not going to stop until I do."</p><p>Sighing, Bruce lowered his head. There wasn't much more he could say. He knew, deep down, that the effort was hopeless and would only end in ruin and pain, but on the other hand, Barry sounded so determined and sure that he couldn't ever imagine saying anything on the contrary. "Alright," he said. "Come on, enough of this now. Get in the car. I'm driving you home."</p><p>Reluctantly, Barry walked around the car until he was sliding into the passenger seat and Bruce was following suit, gunning the engine and turning on the headlights. "I could have just run home, you know."</p><p>"I know," Bruce said. "But it's cold out."</p><p>They drove in silence the whole ride back home, nothing but the faint sounds of the radio and the passing of lights outside the tinted windows, but just before they turned the corner onto Barry's street, he finally gathered the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him all day. "Bruce?"</p><p>"Hm?"</p><p>"Why did you get me that promotion?"</p><p>Bruce tightened his hold on the steering wheel, kept his eyes on the road, bit his lip to hide his smile. "Because you have potential, Barry, and I don't like seeing potential like that being wasted on janitorial duties." </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The names went through quite a lot of redo's because one of the bullies is named "Todd" and I had named the boss "Jason" until I got to the end and realized "Oh shit, there's already a character named Jason Todd, I can't do that or it'll look intentional" so I made him Sam instead.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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